The end of this summer caught all of us looking not to the mountains but to the sun as New Plymouth sat in the path of the total eclipse. Out of town when this momentous event occurred, Jeff and I stopped at a roadside rest area on a New York Interstate. There, along with all sort of travelers, truckers and families, bikers and couples, we shared glasses and a moment of awe. Jeff shared his eclipse glasses with a French speaking family from Quebec. I shared mine with an older Orthodox Jew dressed in his long black coat and hat. This was a big event. I am still getting magazines with pictures of groups of people in their glasses looking up. Scientists will be looking at data from this day for some time.
Here in New Plymouth, Jeannette Davidson Mayer held down the home front, welcoming visitors who had come (some from great distances) to watch the eclipse. Opening the church for travelers, she carried on that ministry of hospitality giving folks an opportunity to be inspired by our church as well as the sky above. While the eclipse was special, our faithful church has been looked to for much over the years. Built when the town had no gathering place and the school no gymnasium, it was the place where both town meetings and school basketball games were held. The first county fair happened on its grounds. Plymouth Church was instrumental in the founding of Pilgrim Cove Camp and camp is still an important place for us to find renewal with God. Feeding kids every Friday, you know that is just what Jesus would do. There is so much more to say, but all this is to get to the Psalmist who challenges us to think about where we are looking.
So where are you looking?
It’s easy these days to get so busy that you think you have no time to be looking for anything more than making it through another day.
Or it’s easy these days to look and see only the chaos and the crisis. There is plenty of that. What is going wrong abounds and you can fill yourself to overflowing on what is wrong and who is wrong and why all is wrong.
Or you can just look for escape – which given the above makes perfect sense.
But stay with the psalmist, he looks to the mountains – and then he looks further, deeper, harder. He is in search of a richer experience. Look beyond whatever the mountains are in your life, piles of work, new worries, old fears, even the fun stuff. The Israelites knew God, as the God of their ancestors Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, as the God who freed them from slavery and saw them safely through the wilderness and into the Promised Land. They knew God as one who was with them where they had been, where they were and where they were going. This understanding of God who walked beside them, who lived in their heart, who gave them courage to act with love made them a special people. Their God was large and not limited. God was in the mighty mountain but also in the tiny hand of a small child. Their God was full of help and hope.
So you found out with the eclipse, it makes a difference where you look, when you look, how you look. The same goes for your spiritual outlook on life. It makes a difference. May you look and see God around you and in others. And may others look at you and see the Lord.
I’ll be looking for you at church!
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